Sydney trio Crystal Cities have found their sound in new single ‘Good Life’, a dreamy, layered track which takes the meaning of garage rock quite literally.
“We recorded that one in in a garage here in Sydney and we spent a lot of time getting the parts right,” say vocalist Geoff Rana. “We had heaps of time to work on it and we went for that vintage, dreamy sound we’ve been searching for.
“It really came together in the studio as well; we went in with an idea and the guitar parts written, and we mucked around with basslines. Recording the track went for about two months, so it was pretty hectic.”
Crystal Cities have released a string of singles since their 2015 debut ‘Cut Me Loose’, which was recorded on tape to give it a classic, analogue sound. Geoff says recording ‘Good Life’ was different to their other singles in that more time was spent on production to attain the sound they’ve been pursuing. “With ‘Good Life’, it’s definitely got a lot more production aspects on that track,” he explains.
“With ‘Cut Me Loose’ especially, we went into the studio and recorded it onto tape which is something we hadn’t done before. That was just guitar, bass and drums, just a straight up three-piece band playing with only a few overdubs.
“It was a lot different from ‘Cut Me Loose’ to ‘Good Life’, which has been worked on a lot more and with better production values on there, but still keeping that original idea of simplicity. The sound we’re going for is a simple sound with those dreamy textures.
Crystal Cities are on tour for the current single, with shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Geoff says the band have been focussed on honing their live shows as a powerful and dynamic trio. “Originally, we were a four-piece back in the day and now we’re a three-piece, so what I do is a lot of programming at home with the guitars and organs and use them as backing tracks live.
“So we’re really honing that skill and getting used to playing with backing tracks. It can work really well because as a three-piece we didn’t want to lose those sounds we’d miss if we had another guitar player.”
With four singles released to date, Crystal Cities are also looking at producing an EP for early next year, but Geoff says with all the writing and recording he and the band have been doing, it may yet become their first full-length album. “We’re looking at February for a release,” he says.
“At this stage it’s going to be an EP, but to be honest it’s probably going to blow out to a full album because I’ve got a few tracks I’m thinking about putting on but I won’t know until it gets closer.
“We’re in the studio between now and Christmas getting the tracks down. We’re doing it in a mate’s garage, so we’ve got no time restraints. We can just rock up, have a cup of coffee and spend half a day working out a guitar sound, and we’ll use that to rehearse. I’ve been in studios where you’ve got eight hours to get a song down then it’s ‘see ya later’, so this is refreshing."
Crystal Cities Tour Dates
Thu 20 Oct - The Horse (Sydney)Wed 26 Oct - The Triffid (Brisbane)
Thu 27 Oct - Ric’s Bar (Brisbane)
Thu 3 Nov - Vic On the Park (Sydney)
Fri 11 Nov - Longplay (Melbourne)
Sun 13 Nov - Whole Lotta Love Bar (Melbourne)
